Travel budgeting should be a big part of travel planning. That’s no less true for solo travellers. This is your guide to solo travel budgeting in 2020.
The fact that you’re reading this article indicates that you’re trying to do one of two things:
Now, first of all, I must congratulate you on your decision to actually click a link called ‘Budgeting for solo travel’.
Whether you’re in the first category of people or the second, there are a few things that this article will teach you.
Keep reading to find out what those things are.
Quick note: if you’re not convinced about the whole appeal of solo travel yet, allow me to reel you in.
(Click the links below to jump to the part you’re most interested in!)
Jump to the next part: Actually planning your solo trip
It’s no secret that your budget will be largely shaped by your travel destination.
Now, you need to keep this in mind when choosing where you’re going to go.
In general, you should consider the following regions and their prices:
(Thanks to Kristin from Be My Travel Muse for these stats!)
So, unless you’re from Australia or New Zealand (sorry!), you should have some very affordable destinations relatively nearby.
People from America can go to Central American countries like Guatemala, Honduras or El Salvador; people from Europe can visit Eastern European countries like Croatia and Slovenia; Asian people can head to South East Asian backpacker paradise in countries like Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.
I’ve also compiled a list of solo travel destinations to visit in 2020. You’ll find some cheap countries on this list, too.
Are you going to Europe? Then you might want to take a look at the best solo travel destinations in Europe.
If you don’t have a specific destination in mind for your next solo trip, use tools like Adioso, flymeanywhere.com and Skyscanner‘s ‘Everywhere’ function. Be sure to sign up for price alert emails to find great deals!
Jump to the next part: How to budget for solo travel
Once you’ve figured out where you want to go, it’s time to start planning your solo trip.
As opposed to going on an organised group tour, you’ll have to do most of the planning yourself when you’re travelling solo.
You can decide many things that will have a big impact on your budget before you even set foot in your destination.
The biggest costs in solo travel — as in any other kind of travel — are the following:
This might be a good time to remind you that I’ve written separate articles for three of these categories — just click the links above to read them — and I’ve also written a free ebook on how to travel solo on a budget.
That being said, there’s no reason you should wait until your trip to start saving money.
You can pick out a decent hostel with cheap dorm rooms if you start looking a bit in advance.
You can check flight aggregator websites to find cheap flights if you book at the right time (3 to 4 months in advance for international travel, according to Airhelp).
And you could even do some research to find budget restaurants near your accommodation. Alternatively, you could book a hostel that has a kitchen available and look into nearby grocery stores or farmers’ markets to buy your groceries.
Many major cities also have some kind of city pass available, where you pay a flat fee for the pass and get free access to many different attractions and discounts in shops and restaurants. With some careful planning, this might also be an option worth looking into.
Example: the Edinburgh City Pass is great when you’re visiting Edinburgh.
Jump to the next part: Saving money as a solo traveller
Now comes the part where you actually have to make a budget for your solo trip.
A great way to start solo travel budgeting is to track your expenses for a few weeks. Use a budget planning app like Spendee to see where your money goes on a daily basis and go from there. (Here’s a list of my favourite free solo travel apps to use in 2020!) Ideally, you’d be able to track your expenses when you’re actually travelling solo, but doing it at home will also give you a decent indication.
This should give you a good idea of which categories you usually spend the most money on. Looking at your past expenses is a great way to identify unhealthy spending behaviour.
Next, use online tools like forums and blogs (hello!) to get an idea of how much you should budget for accommodation, transport, food and entertainment at your specific destination.
Look for things like ‘Destination X city trip budget breakdown’, ‘Destination X itinerary’ and ‘How much does it cost to travel to Destination X‘. But – obviously – insert your actual destination instead of typing Destination X.
A useful website to find average prices and budgets for solo travel is budgetyourtrip.com. Just enter the destination you’re interested in and you’ll get an overview of the average costs for accommodation, food, transport, and many other things.
So, you see, solo travel budgeting is not as tough as you might have thought.
Quick reminder: I wrote a whole ebook about saving money as a solo traveller. (It’s free!)
If you don’t feel like reading a whole book, let me give you the gist here.
You can save a lot of money by budgeting your solo trip when you’re in the planning stage. Besides the obvious tips, like ‘sleep in hostel dorm rooms’ and ‘don’t eat out for every meal’, here’s some more obscure ways to spend less money as a solo traveller.
Easier than you thought it would be, right?
The truth is, solo travel budgeting is something that everybody can do with just a little bit of preparation.
And that little bit of time that you invest in the planning stage will save you a substantial amount of money down the road.
Give yourself a pat on the back. You deserve it.
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